slowly

Just checking in to let you all know I am alive and well. I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since the big move...and 3 weeks since I posted anything. :) I am slowly working on catching up on my blog. I am working on several posts to get me to the present. Not sure if anyone still checks this little blog of mine. Life has been so unbelievably busy since moving. In the meantime if you want to know what is going on in our present you can check out our ministry blog. We have a few updates there.

Thanks for understanding friends. Hope to be back soon. :)

We are here!

We finally made it here to the New Tribes Missionary Training Center, this past Monday. After a 12 1/2 hour drive (with no air conditioning) in the heat, we made it here safely! :) I only had one melt down, I can't take this any more, yell at Bill moment...yeah not my best! Moving is stressful! I'm so thankful for a forgiving husband and a loving God. :)

Life has been absolutely crazy for us the past month. Our last weeks in WI were just crammed packed with moving, cleaning, Dr. appointments, doing two photo shoots (SOOO fun for me!!) and spending time with family and friends. Obviously not much time for being on here. :) I am totally exhausted these days. I think it's going to take me awhile to recover from all the craziness and change.

It is beautiful here but oh so HOT! Not quite like good old WI. :) I miss what used to be home daily...but not because of the weather.

I have so much I want to write about...so many thoughts...I don't want to forget. I am going to have to rewind and start back a few weeks to try and catch up.

Well, I am off to bed now because I think I am falling asleep just typing this. I will be back soon.

Oh, I almost forgot...if you want a look into our new place you can visit our ministry blog here.

Our Bethlehem

Before you walk into your home with your new baby, stop and mentally photograph this house so that you can keep it in your heart forever. In this mobile society of ours, there's a good chance that your child will not live in this place till she goes to college. You may move two or three more times during her childhood, especially if you find you like this mothering business and have more kids. But this will always be Bethlehem to you, the place where your family was born. You may not know it yet, but your most precious memories are about to be created here, and in years to come you will have forgotten if it had bad plumbing or funny shag carpeting. It's where you brought your first child. Welcome home!

-From "Girlfriends' Guide to the First Year of Motherhood" by Vicki Iovine

While it was not the house we brought our first baby home to, or even our second baby....this house was our Bethlehem. I remember the day we moved in. Our friends rejoiced with us. It was the first real house we had lived in. No more apartments with bad neighbors for us! We did not own this house, but that didn't matter at the time. We had finally found a place that would feel more like home then any other place we had lived. It was small....cozy if you will...but I loved it! Over time it felt like it was ours. We painted and decorated and put ourselves into it. My kitchen was a happy yellow, and living room a comforting brown. Many adventures were had while living in 117, the little brown house next to the coffee shop. We welcomed our last 2 babies home while living there. It's where we lived when we decided to start homeschooling. We had lots of birthday parties, girls nights, friends and family...all who lovingly tred our worn out carpeted floors. We packed that house to the max. So many wonderful memories were made inside those walls.

It is where we lived when God told us to pick up our family and venture into the unknown. Over the last few months we have slowly given away most of our belongings in preparation for our new future. Some of the things we gave away were hard to part with, but most were not. The one thing I was a little surprised to feel sad about was leaving behind the place we called "home" for the last 4 and a half years. We packed up and moved out everything we have left last Friday. It was a bittersweet day. I was not prepared for the emotions I would have. As I walked through the empty house one last time I was flooded with thoughts and voices from the past. It was a good home for us. We were very blessed. I shed a few tears in closing the door behind us.

Goodbye little brown house. You will be missed. You will not be forgotten. You will always be Bethlehem to us.